PASTA UPMA

Upma is a common breakfast dish or an evening tiffin in most South Indian homes. You can use rava, vermicelli or even bread for making this tasty upma. For added taste, some add vegetables like beans, carrots, potatoes or cauliflower and garnished with cashew nut, peanut or coconut..

It is fast to cook and taste yummy. Adding lemon juice is optional and it is really healthy and an excellent dish to start your day.

PASTA UPMA

100g pasta boiled until aldente
1 onion chopped
2 green chili sliced
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp bengal gram
1 sprig curry leaves
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
3 T tomato sauce
2 T cooking oil
lemon juice (optional)

METHOD

* Heat the oil, splutter mustard seed, add urad dal, bengal gram, curry leaves, onion and green chili, cook until fragrant.

* Add in 1/4 cup water, salt and tomato sauce and bring to boil.

* Pour in the cooked pasta and stir well. Remove from heat.

* Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

COCONUT CAKE

Using only 6 ingredients, it is the simplest and easiest cake to prepare. You do not need any mixer but only one mixing bowl. If you are using fresh grated coconut, dry roast them until slightly dry. You can also use self raising flour, if you do, please omit baking powder and salt.

This is also my son's favorite cake, if he wants a dessert, this is what he requested me to bake. He brought them to his office and shared them with his colleagues. Most of his friends loved it and even ask for the recipe.

So easy to put together , when you are craving for a slice of cake and you want it sooner. Before you know it, the wonderful smell of amazing cake is sifting through your window. The texture was just lovely!

I am not much of an icing person but you can go ahead to apply any frosting of your choice to elevate  this cake to a heavenly dimension.

COCONUT CAKE
Makes 7 in cake

1 C all purpose flour
3/4 C sugar
1 C  dessicated coconut
3/4 C milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

C  =  cup

METHOD

* Preheat oven @ 175 C. Grease 7 in cake pan. Sift flour and baking powder.

* Add in sugar, salt and coconut. Pour in milk and mix until batter is smooth.

* Pour into greased  cake  pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

* Cool on pan 10 minutes, transfer onto rack to cool.

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NOODLE W/SWEET & SOUR SAUCE

This is a perfect sauce to be taken with noodle. You can add a variety of ingredients to the finished sauce to create a completely different dish. I'm using fresh yellow noodle, just blanch for 1-2 minutes in a pot of boiling water. If you're using dry noodle, please prepare them  according to the package instruction. Any type of pasta works well too.

There are several ways to cook this dish. One method is to boil the meat until soft, retaining the stock before you start cooking. Either way you choose, it turns out great and flavorful. The thickness of the soup is up to you, add less water for a thicker sauce.

NOODLE W/SWEET & SOUR SAUCE
Serves 4-6

500g fresh yellow noodle blanch and drain
2 big onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 in ginger chopped
2 T chili paste
2 tomato chopped
500g sliced beef
250g carrot or other vegetable
3 T tomato sauce
2 T chili sauce
salt and sugar to taste
6 cups water
coriander leaves
red/green chili for garnish
3 T oil

METHOD

* Heat the oil, fry the onion, garlic, chili paste and ginger until fragrant Add tomato, cook until tomato turns soft.

* Add in sliced beef, stir for 1 minutes then add the required water, simmer until beef turns soft.

* Pour in tomato sauce, chili sauce, salt and sugar, bring to boil again.

* Now add the vegetable., once the vegetable  is cooked, remove from heat.

* To serve, place noodle in a small bowl, pour the gravy and sprinkle with coriander leaves and sliced red/green chili..

BREAD GRIDDLE CAKE

This is great if you have stale bread in you pantry. Instead of usual spread you can turn them into this super easy griddle cake. Experiment with what works best for you by adding raisin, chocolate chip or cheese.

Adding milk is depends on how wet the soaked bread is so adjust accordingly. I also sprinkles chocolate rice to some of the cake, it tasted great.

BREAD GRIDDLE CAKE
Serves 4

4 C bread torn into pieces
1/4 to 1/2 C milk
4 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C all purpose flour
1 T melted butter
oil for frying

METHOD

* Place bread and milk  in a mixing bowl. Mash up the bread..

* Add sugar,  flour, salt and butter to the bread. Keep 15 minutes.

* Pour 1/4 cup of batter on greased  griddle,   fry until both sides turn golden brown.  Repeat with the rest of batter.

* Serve hot.

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OATMEAL BREAKFAST BARS

If you need a healthy and easy breakfast or in between snack to start your day, you must try this recipe. It is  made of rolled oat, dried fruit ( you can use raisin, cherry, mixed peel, cranberries) and toasted chopped nuts ( almond, hazel, cashew, peanut). They're sweetened with condensed milk instead of sugar and contains minimal fat.

To make it easier you can press the dough into square greased tin then slice after it has been baked. You'll be amazed how this healthy  treat produces a chewy and not so sweet bar despite using condensed milk.

OATMEAL BREAKFAST BAR
Yield   14 bars

1/2 cup  plus 2 tablespoon  condensed milk
125 g (1 1/3 cup)  rolled oat
80 g   (1/2 cup) dried  fruit
80 g  (1/2 cup) chopped nuts

METHOD

* Heat the condensed milk in a microwave on High for a minute. Add in rolled oat and stir.

* Mix the rest of the ingredients and roll out into rectangle in between plastic sheet, cut into bar and place onto greased baking sheet.

* Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until light brown @ 130 C . Remove from pan after 5 minutes and transfer into rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

* Enjoy your healthy bar fresh from the oven.

Thanks so much for your support and encouragement my friends, may this year brings better health and happiness to you and family. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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